Israel/Palestine: 'Hamas continues to hold 50 hostages in horrific conditions' | United Nations

“Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups continue to hold 50 hostages, 28 of whom are thought to be deceased, in captivity in horrific conditions,” the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, Miroslav Jenča, told the Security Council. Briefing the Security Council today (Aug 05), Jenča said that released hostages had described “distressing accounts of deprivation, ill-treatment, and abuse,” while armed groups had circulated videos showing detainees clearly suffering and speaking under duress. “Since 7 October 2023, Hamas and other armed groups have circulated dozens of videos of hostages,” he said. The meeting came days after the release of new footage by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad showing two Israeli hostages, Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, visibly emaciated and with David being forced to dig his own grave. Ilay David, the brother of Evyatar David, said, “My brother was a living skeleton. He had barely the strength to move or speak.” He added, “We were reminded just how much more cruel and inhumane Hamas and its sick partners are.” David urged the international community to ensure humanitarian aid reaches the hostages. “While aid flows into Gaza to help the population, the hostages are being denied even the most basic necessities of life. They haven't received the shred of humanitarian aid since they were captive. This is a flagrant violation of international law,” he said. Russian Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy said it was “evident that Israel’s complete freedom of action would have been impossible without direct military support and international political cover from the United States. Illustrative in this regard was the joint U.S.-Israeli boycott of the high-level international conference in support of the two-state solution, held from July 28 to 30, as well as Washington’s futile attempts to dissuade its partners from participating in this representative forum.” The US Representative Dorothy Shea said, “We must be clear that unproductive publicity stunts like last week's Two State Solution Conference and unilateral announcements regarding recognition of a Palestinian state undercut the efforts of mediators and prolong the war.” Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said, Israel is “demanding that the world take a stance against conditions of captivity of Israelis when it is holding two million people captive under its deadly siege, when 76 Palestinian prisoners have died under torture or starving or due to medical neglect in the last 20 months alone.” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said, “The Palestinians invented terrorism as a way to promote their means, and it includes all Palestinians fractions. And until this very day, the Palestinian Authority continue to pay salaries to terrorists and terrorist families accordingly to the crime the terrorists committed, and this is how they encourage terrorism until this very day.” Speaking to reporters before the Security Council’s meeting Saar said certain countries had undermined negotiations by supporting Palestinian state recognition. “They gave Hamas free gifts and an incentive to continue this war. They directly assassinated the hostage deal and ceasefire,” he said. “Let me be clear, these countries prolonged the war.”


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